No-Bullshit Optimization/Risk Reduction, Life Extension, EA, Rationality, Startups, Film, MMA. Larry David is my spirit animal.
Read my posts or connect with me: https://www.johncgreer.com/
JohnGreer
Karma: 229
I’ve done a fair amount of reading and am comfortable in the social/PUA realm but am always on the lookout for more recommended resources (especially higher-level stuff).
What other resources do you support in this field, ELO?
Thanks for the in-depth response, Vaniver! I don’t have a good grasp on these issues so it helps reading others’ analyses.
Has there been any response to Brett Hall’s critique of Bostrom’s Superintelligence? What do y’all think? http://www.bretthall.org/superintelligence.html
Yes, I’ve mostly seen a Democrat favored. I bet two bitcoin on Hilary a year ago based on FiveThirtyEight’s posts.
Billions: Show about the war between a hedge fund billionaire and the U.S. Attorney. Recommended for anyone that likes dramatized power plays. It’s House of Cards meets Wall Street.
The link you provided isn’t working. Here is the article: http://www.lifehack.org/330221/6-science-based-hacks-for-growing-mentally-stronger
For anyone interested: the author is famous for his high IQ and was the subject of an episode of the filmmaker Errol Morris’ TV series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggur-Ca2nzs
Seconding https://www.predictious.com/ recommendation.
Thanks for the tip! I’ve read some of her posts but will look into the ones I’ve haven’t.
We’re going to be moving in about two weeks and are fairly busy before so probably not going to be able to. I regret not going to a Berkeley Meetup while I had more time.
Hello!
I’ve lived in Berkeley for about six years. My girlfriend is going to medical school so we’re going to be moving to Boca Raton, Florida (most likely) or Columbus, Ohio in less than a month. I’m sad to be leaving the Bay Area but thrilled to be with my girlfriend when she starts such an exciting chapter of her life. I’m also very fortunate that I can handle nearly all my business online.
I co-founded a startup devoted to making a web game with an old buddy of mine. This same guy introduced me to LW.
Critical thinking and debate has been a focus of mine since I was quite young so LW fit right into my interests. I’m very interested in instrumental/practical applications of rationality. I’ve been lurking for many years and finally decided to make an account to get over my fear of online embarrassment given my unfamiliarity with a lot of the lexicon and protocol on LW.
Some passions of mine are movies, seeking out novel experiences (examples are shooting an AK-47, judging a singing competition, and visiting Pixar), and martial arts.
I’m also interested in effective altruism and AI research but still have a lot of learning to do, especially in the latter.
I periodically do things to get out of my comfort zone. I started years ago before a friend introduced me to LW where I pleasantly discovered that CoZE was recommended.
This write-up is about my most recent exercise: Do a Non Gender-Conforming Thing
I chose to have my nails painted. Having painted nails requires low enough effort that I have no excuse not to and, wearing them out in public is just out-of-the-ordinary enough to make me worry about how people will react. After getting them painted, I realized why girls say “My nails!” a lot after a manicure and worry about screwing them up. It took work to paint them and chipping them makes them look like shit. Can’t let that happen to me!
Then I challenged some friends to do it and gave these suggestions:
Exercises I came up with:
Ideas for men:
Get a manicure/pedicure (it’s basically a massage)
Wear (traditionally feminine) jewelry
Carry a purse
Play a “girly” pop song loud enough for others to hear
Order a fruity alcoholic beverage
Get your nails painted
Wear a feminine outfit (or at least a pink shirt or something)
Read/ask about fashion or some other traditionally feminine topic
Ideas for women:
Wear a masculine outfit. (I feel like women have to try a bit harder than guys here)
Don’t shave your legs for a week
Don’t shave your armpits for a week
Wear a tie
Give a guy a compliment
Ask a guy on a date
Don’t wear makeup for a week
Don’t wear a bra for a week
Read/ask about sports or some other traditionally masculine topic
My thoughts so far: It’s still weird for me to see my own hands. It takes me a second to recognize them as my own. “And how pretty they are!”
I’m already hypervigilant in public but we were in public in a new area and I was more hypervigilant than normal. I had to fight the urge to keep hiding my fingernails in the grocery store. I was worried that our hosts at the Airbnb we’re staying at would be weird about it...
Now I’m caught between not wanting people to see my nails at all and not wanting to see them all chipped (it’s hard taking proper care of them!). I’m conscious of my dad seeing this. I do weird enough things that my model of people in my tribe reacting is “John doing another thing...”
I need to get rid of them before we visit our friend’s parents so that way I don’t make a weird first impression. A lot of the discomfort has more to do with being misperceived or miscategorized. For instance, one time after getting my haircut, my shirts was covered with hair, so my friend lent me her Pink Floyd T-shirt to wear. I wasn’t defying social norms by wearing a Pink Floyd shirt, but that was not the kind of thing I would usually wear so I felt extra-aware of the potential for being perceived a certain way based on how I was dressed. Likewise, if I smoke a clove cigarette or cigar, which I do once every six months with a certain friend, I would be horrified to be falsely labeled a regular smoker.
I’ll have to try this again when I’m in public more frequently to give it a fair shake.
Meta-Communication: I’m also getting out of my comfort zone because I’m not sure this is the right place for this type of post or if these kinds of posts are welcome.
Cross-Posted and editing from my Facebook. Feel free to follow me there!